Miwin's Dice were invented in 1975 by the physicist Michael Winkelmann in Vienna. They consist of three different dice with faces bearing numbers from 1 to 9, with opposite sides summing to 9, 10, or 11. The numbers on each die give the sum of 30 and have an arithmetic mean of 5.

Who creates a good new game with miwin's dice, will get a set of miwin's dice and the game will be published here!

Miwins's dice have 6 sides like standard dice, and each side shows different numbers. The standard set is made of wood; special designs are made of titanium (see picture) or other materials (gold, silver). The numbers (dots) on each die are colored blue, red or black.

Each die is named for the sum of its 2 lowest numbers.

Die III

with blue dots

1

2

5

6

7

9

Die IV

with red dots

1

3

4

5

8

9

Die V

with black dots

2

3

4

6

7

8

Numbers 1 and 9, 2 and 7, and 3 and 8 are on opposite sides. Additional numbers are 5 and 6 on die III, 4 and 5 on die IV, and 4 and 6 on die V. The dice are designed in such a way that for every die there exists one that will win against it. A given die will have a higher number with a probability of 17/36, or a lower number with a probability of 16/36. III wins against IV, IV against V, and V against III. Such dice are known as nontransitive.

win against each other with equal probability they are not equivalent.
While the first set of dice (A, B, C) has a ,highest' die the second set of dice has a 'lowest' die.
Rolling the three dice of a set and using always the highest score for evaluation will show a different winning pattern
for the two sets of dice.
With the first set of dice, die B will win with the highest probability (88/216) and dice A and C will each win with a probability of 64/216.
With the second set of dice, die C' will win with the lowest probability (56/216) and dice A' and B' will each win with a probability of 80/216.

Mathematical attributes of the dice

Each of the Dice has similar attributes like having no double number, the sum of the numbers is 30, and having each number from 1 to 9 two times spread over the 3 dice. This attribute characterize the implementation of intransitive Dice enabling all the different game variants. All the games need only 3 dice in difference to other theoretical nontransitive dice designed in view of mathematics such as Efrons Dice.

Because of these special attributes Miwin's Dice used also in the area of education. Miwin's Dice help to develop the mathematical highlights and enhances the ability to calculate probability as happened in the summer semester 2007 during a seminar at the University Siegen.

Games of dice with Miwin's dice

Since the middle of the eighties the press wrote about the games -> see the Austrian paper "Das Weihnachtsorakel, Spieltip "Ein Buch mit zwei Seiten", the Standard 18.Dez..1994, page 6, Pöppel-Revue 1/1990 page 6 and Spielwiese 11/1990 page 13, 29/1994 page 7. Winkelmann presents his games also himself, for example in Vienna at the "Österrechischen Spielefest, "Stiftung Spielen in Österreich", Leopoldsdorf, where "Miwin's dice" 1987 won the price "novel independent dice game of the year".

1989 the games have been reviewed by the periodical "Die Spielwiese" ( 29/1989 page 6). At that time 14 alternatives of gambling and strategic games existed for Miwin's dice. Also the periodical "Spielbox" had in the category "Unser Spiel im Heft" (now known as "Edition Spielbox") two variants of games for Miwin's dice to be taken out of the magazine. It was the solitaire game 5 to 4 and the strategic game Bitis for two persons.

1994 Winkelmann published in Vienna's Arquus publishing house his game Miwin's Dice consisting of the book "Göttliche Spiele", containing 92 games, a master copy for 4 game board and a documentation about the mathematical attributes of the dice and a set of Miwin's dice. Now you can find about 120 variants of games for free at his homepage.

Game variants

With Miwin's dice strategic games gambles are possible. Variants with both elements exist also. The intrinsic attributes of the dice cause well defined probabilities and mathematical phenomena's.

Solitaire games and games for up to nine people beginning with the age of 6 available. Some of the games need a game board. Playing time is from 5 minutes to 60 minutes.

Features of Miwin’s Dice

1/3 of the sum of dots of all dice can be divided by 3 without carry over.

1/3 of the sum of dots of all dice can be divided by 3 having a carry over of 1.

1/3 of the sum of dots of all dice can be divided by 3 having a carry over of 2.

The probability for a given number with all 3 dice is 11/36, for a given rolled double is 1/36, for any rolled double 1/4. The probability obtain a rolled double is only 50% compared to normal dice.